In Photos: Africa - Congo: Episode 3

Central Africa and its incredible wildlife is drowned in claustrophobic tropical rainforest.

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Picathartes

Picathartes – the white necked rockfowl; its head is bald apart from three little feathers and its skin is luminous yellow, making Picathartes one of the most striking birds on the planet.
African Skimmers

Two African skimmers return to a sand bank and their young. The crew filmed the largest breeding colony in the world at a remote location in west Africa. But time was not on the side of the crew or the birds; the sand bank where the skimmers nest is only temporarily exposed before floods wash the opportunity away.
Chimpanzee

The chimpanzee is our closest relative, and like us they rely on ingenuity and invention to overcome the challenges of life. Filmed for the first time, one very special chimp has found a new source of food, accessible only with the use of a specially made tool and not inconsiderable daring.
Picathartes Profile

A rare and fleeting glimpse of Picathartes, or the white necked rockfowl, in Sierra Leone. In 1954, David Attenborough went in search of this striking bird for his first natural history documentary from the field: ‘Zoo Quest’. The Africa team spent weeks in the forest filming some of the most intimate images of this vulnerable and declining species rearing chicks in the wild.
African Skimmer

The African skimmers’ long and stable wings allow them to glide just over the water. Dragging their elongated lower beak just under the surface, they ‘skim’ for their prey – snapping their beak shut the moment they touch a fish. Adult skimmers make it look easy but catching prey this way needs to be learned. The Africa crew captured a skimmer chick’s first few weeks of life, as it struggled to cope with its unusual bill and master the skills needed to fish.
African Forest Elephants

African forest elephants are a different species from their Savannah cousins – they are smaller and specialised for jungle living. They are natural engineers, cutting paths and maintaining clearings for the forest’s other residents. Filming them is dangerous; one elephant spent four hours trying to shake one of the cameramen from his treetop filming platform.
Western Lowland Gorilla

A western lowland gorilla seen through thick vegetation in west Africa. Africa’s jungles are perhaps the most primal habitats on Earth, incredibly rich and diverse but by the same token, stifling. Even the mighty gorilla is both reliant on and trapped by the forest.
Leaf Folding Frogs

Leaf folding frogs are right at home in the damp shade of the west African jungle. But when it comes to finding a mate their favoured thick forest is a problem. Males sing to impress the females but need a prominent branch to make sure they’re heard. Filmed in the wild for the first time for the Africa series, the frogs fight for the best spots in vigorously contested bouts of ‘kung-fu’ kicking.
Leaf Folding Frog

Filmed at night in the wild for the first time, leaf folding frogs do exactly as their name suggests: creasing and gluing leaves to protect their precious eggs. The tadpoles develop in their specially constructed nest awaiting the next rain to dissolve the glue and release them for a life in the forest.
African Rock Python

The African rock python is the largest species of snake on the continent, and among the largest in the world. Finding a sunny spot to bask under the dense tree canopy is a challenge, especially when you’re over four meters in length.
African Forest Elephant

A forest elephant looks out to sea at Petit Loango, Gabon. A rare sight, although many forest animals visit the sand and surf if they can, to feed on grasses seasoned by salt in the sea spray. And perhaps they also come here to revel in the space and light so absent in the jungle. But all the animals here, including hippos and buffalo, are ultimately forest dwellers and can only be brief visitors to this unique beach resort.
Chimp

This young female chimp has learned to ‘pound’ for the honey stored in the nest of stingless bees. Hanging tens of metres in the air, she risks her life for a taste of sweetness. This is one of the most complicated forms of tool use yet filmed among Africa’s great apes.
Banana Frog Tadpole

A banana frog tadpole hangs tantalisingly in a drop of water. These frogs time their breeding and development to coincide with the jungle wet season. The eggs are carefully positioned by the parents so that when they hatch, the tadpoles are washed into a pool of water below.